Send Information Report

The vision and aims of our SEND (Special Educational Needs Department) are as follows:
  • All children and young people are valued equally and have the right to learn, achieve and participate fully in education and in the wider community regardless of their abilities and behaviours.
  • All children and young people are empowered so that their voice is heard and heeded in decisions made about themselves.
  • All parents and carers are partners in meeting the needs of their children.
  • All children and young people are entitled to have access to a broad, balanced and relevant curriculum that is differentiated to meet individual learning styles, recognising personal strengths and needs.
  • The diversity of the needs of children and young people is recognised and met through a range of flexible, responsive and varied provision.

Send Information Report

Management of Statement
School:
  • This statement is implemented and managed by the Headteacher, in consultation with the designated senior teacher (Pastoral leader) and Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator (SENDCo)
Governing body:
  • The Governors’ Students and Community Committee approves and reviews this policy annually Approval
What support services are available to parents/carers?
Who can young people and parents/carers contact if they have concerns?
SENDCo
How do we evaluate the effectiveness of our SEND provision?
The effectiveness of our SEND provision is evaluated by:
  • Monitoring progress made both in the classroom and in any interventions that be carried out.
  • Constant feedback and discussions with parents/carers and students.
  • Formal and informal assessments
  • Teaching and Learning observations
How do we involve other organisations in meeting the needs of students with SEND and supporting their families?
If needs require, the SENDCo will make contact with relevant agencies to identify extra specialist provision that can help support students. This is often done through an EHCP, which can be applied for by both the school and parents/carers.
The school has access to a Local Authority Educational Psychologist who is able to offer support in assessing the needs of individuals with SEND. Parents/carers are always involved in the decision to consult the E.P. and are included in a feedback meeting in which strategies for support are agreed.
We are committed to ‘joined up’ working with other agencies such as Speech and Language Therapy, Visual Impairment Service, CAMHS and Social Care in order to fully meet the needs of our students.
How do we support students moving between different phases of education?
  • Meetings with parents/carers and the SENDCo to discuss needs of the student and strategies that can be put in place to assist transition:
  • Understanding the needs of the students
  • Strategies that support and aid transition
  • Strategies that support and aid academic achievement
  • Friendship groups
  • Emotional, social and mental information
SEND and involve them in their child’s education?
  • All students are encouraged to share their views about their learning through our regular student surveys and school council.
  • Form tutors, subject teachers and relevant members of support staff discuss next steps and targets with identified students, who are encouraged to take ownership of their learning and to aim high.
  • Students with SEND are active partners in reviewing their provision and progress. They are invited to attend review meetings with their parents.
How do we enable students with SEND to engage in activities with other students who do not have SEND?
  • Ensure that all students are involved within the lesson in some form.
  • Provide equipment that assists that student in accessing the activity/ies being carried out.
  • Discussions with parents/carers and student regarding strategies for supporting engagement are carried out where and when necessary.
  • Teaching groups are made up of students with and without SEND.
  • Lessons are carefully planned in order to ensure access to all students.
  • Extra-curricular activities are carefully planned in order to ensure access to all students.
  • Engagement levels of students with and without SEND in lessons and extra curricular activities are monitored to ensure parity.
What support is available for improving the emotional and social development of students with SEND?
  • The school has a clear pastoral support structure that is planned to grow as the school grows.
  • Each student has an identified form tutor who monitors wellbeing and remains with the group as they progress through the school.
  • The school employs a pastoral support mentor to whom students can go with their concerns.
  • The school provides an Inclusion Room, where vulnerable students can go for additional support.
  • We have a school council to actively elicit the views of our students.
    Skills for learning, including resilience and independence are actively taught across the curriculum.
How do we adapt the curriculum and learning environment?
  • The progress made by all students is regularly monitored and reviewed.
  • Initially, concerns registered by teachers, parents/carers or other agencies are addressed by appropriate differentiation within the classroom and a record is kept of strategies used.
  • When a student is identified as having special educational needs, we will intervene initially to provide appropriate changes to the curriculum and or specialist intervention to narrow the gap and ensure expected progress is made. For example, we may utilise Individual Student Profiles, differentiation and intervention groups focused on developing social skills or literacy.
  • On identification, the SENDCo will work with teachers to ensure quality first teaching and training e. g. differentiation and small-group guided work.
  • The school will work with students, parents/carers and other relevant professionals to identify appropriate equipment and facilities to support students with SEND.
Who is our special educational needs co-ordinator (SENDCo) and how can he/she be contacted?

If parents/carers have concerns relating to their child’s learning or inclusion, these may initially be discussed with the child’s form tutor. This may then result in a referral to the relevant senior teacher for consideration/action. Parents/carers may also contact the SENDCo or the Headteacher directly if they feel this is more appropriate.

How do we identify and assess students with SEND?
  • SEND students may be identified through information provided by the student’s previous school, teacher observations and assessment, progress checklists, target setting, parental/carer concerns or the students’ own observations or by external agencies.
  • Areas of need are identified and prioritised and become the basis of the intervention.
  • The effectiveness of intervention will be reviewed at least 3 times per year.
  • The review will involve the analysis of relevant progress data and discussion with relevant staff such as Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator (SENDCo), teachers, parents/carers, student and or specialists.
  • In some cases outside professionals from health or children’s services may already be involved with the student.
  • Where these professionals are not already working with Serenity School, the SENDCo will contact them, having discussed the situation with the parents/carers.
  • The SEND team will further assess the student and support for the individual will be discussed and action taken.
What types of Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) do we provide for?
A child or young person has a special educational need if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. A child of compulsory school age or a young person is considered to have a learning difficulty or disability if he or she:
  • ‘has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age; or
  • has a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for students of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.’ (Code of Practice, 2015)

The types of SEND we provide for are:

  • Communication and Interaction needs (C&I) including Autistic Spectrum Condition, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Attention Deficit Disorder.
  • Cognition and Learning needs (C&L) including Specific Learning Difficulties such as Dyslexia, Dysgraphia and Dyscalculla.
  • Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs (SEMH) such as anxiety and depression.